SunJet, the inkjet ink division of Sun Chemical, has announced at drupa the development of ink chemistry designed to support and deliver conductive films using nano-particles of silver. These are present on the Sun Chemical stand, B75, Hall 6, at drupa 2008, Düsseldorf, from May 29 to June 11.

SunJet is a leader in the development of inkjet fluids for industrial applications as well as for the established market of wide format graphics. Specialty development requirements in inkjet continue to emerge and SunJet uses experience gained from over 25 years of formulation work to address the challenges presented by each new application.

In the area of conductive ink deposition for the production of a variety of inkjet printed electronic items SunJet has partnered with a recognized leader in the manufacture of nano particle silver. SunJet has successfully dispersed and stabilized the silver particles such that extremely reliable jetting properties can be obtained.

“We have developed a platform for conductive inkjet inks based on silver nano-particles, which allows us to formulate bespoke conductive solutions for customers’ individual requirements although the initial products are based around 20 and 40 weight percent silver content,” said Nigel Caiger, Sun Chemical’s director of digital technology. “The inks can be sintered at very low temperatures, below 150°C, which is critical for some printed electronics applications, where high processing speeds are needed or the substrates are temperature sensitive.”

“We have identified a number of applications (photovoltaic, sensors, touch pads, smart labels, memory and printed circuit boards) for highly conductive metal films and have already attracted a large number of partners seeking to use our capability,” said Peter Walshe, SunJet’s sales business development manager. “SunJet intends to develop a full product range and the ability to design ink properties to meet high value applications. Our work at SunJet on jettable fluids will extend Sun Chemical’s line of electronic materials under the SunTronic brand, which include dielectric materials, etch resist inks and notation inks – all fully jettable.”